Happy Cherry Blossom Viewing Season, Piggies and Pals! 🐹 💗 💗 💗 💮 💮 💮 🥕

"🎶 Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,
In fields, mountains and villages
As far as the eye can see.
Is it mist, or clouds?
Fragrant in the rising sun.
Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,
Flowers in full bloom. "

~ Sakura, Sakura

Are the cherry blossoms blooming in your part of world?

“Sakura Sakura” — “Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms” — is a traditional Japanese song celebrating spring and the fleeting beauty of the cherry blossoms. Each year, the sakura blooming (kaika) is eagerly watched across Japan, and festivals called hanami (“flower viewing”) are planned so people can gather beneath the trees and enjoy the petals as they fall.

In Japan, the blossoms begin in the warmer south as early as January–February, reach peak beauty in places like Tokyo and Kyoto in March–April, and continue northward into May. Around the world, cherry blossoms follow a similar spring rhythm—often appearing March through April in the U.S. and Europe, depending on the climate.

Some blossoms, like the early Kawazu-zakura, bloom for weeks, giving a longer moment to enjoy their soft pink beauty before the petals drift away.

If you have a blossoming cherry tree nearby, you might want to sit quietly beneath it with your little morumotto (guinea pig), for some hanami (flower viewing) watching the petals fall like spring snow.

The word morumotto comes from the Dutch word marmot, reflecting how guinea pigs were first introduced to Japan through European trade.

Happy Spring! 🌸

Wheek! Wheek!